Hybridization histochemistry method for determining the presence and location in animal or plant tissue of RNA

ABSTRACT

A method for determining the presence and location in animal or plant tissue of a specific polynucleotide population comprising: (a) preparing a section of the tissue to be examined; (b) contacting the tissue section under hybridization conditions with a synthetic, labelled oligonucleotide probe which is complementary to a representative portion of the target polynucleotide; (c) removing unhybridized probe material from the tissue section; and (d) detecting or identifying the locations in the tissue section where labelling by hybridization of the labelled probe has occurred. A diagnostic kit for use in performance of the above method is also disclosed.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 06/815,095, filed asPCT/AU85/00070, apr. 4, 1985 published as WO85/04720, Oct. 24, 1985, nowabandoned.

This invention is concerned with improvements in and relating tohybridization histochemistry. The invention is particularly concernedwith, although not limited to, improved techniques for the applicationof hybridization histochemistry in medical diagnosis and research.

The procedure of in situ hybridization, termed "hybridizationhistochemistry", has been developed to locate in specially preparedwhole sections of tissue those areas which contain specific mRNApopulations, the presence of which would indicate that a certain gene is"switched on", and production of a specific protein or peptide is,therefore, highly probable.

Hybridization between complementary strands of nucleic acids has becomeone of the powerful tools of molecular biology. The method stems fromthe fact that two complementary strands in a DNA double helix or aDNA/RNA duplex can be separated by denaturation and then reannealed(hybridized) back together under conditions where the hydrogen bondingof base pairs is favoured. One of the most exploited applications ofhybridization technique has been in situ procedures where one of theannealing strands has been immobilized. Much of this work is based onthe use of nitrocellulose to immobilize the DNA. Often the complementarylabelled strand is added as soluble, radioactively-labelled probe whichafter hybridization and removal of the unbound probe, can be localizedand semi-quantitated by autoradiography.

We have recently shown that these procedures can be applied to sectionsof tissue, by the treatment of cells or tissue sections so as toimmobilize and protect naturally occurring DNA or RNA for in situ tissuehybridization while at the same time retaining sufficient cellularmorphology for accurate histological location. These in situhybridization techniques, which use radiolabeled cloned cDNAs, have beensuccessfully employed to localize endorphin, GH, relaxin, and calcitoninmRNAs in fixed tissue slices. (See: Hudson, P., Penschow, J., Shine, J.,Ryan, G., Niall, H. and Coghlan, J. Hybridization Histochemistry: Use ofrecombinant DNA as a "homing probe" for tissue localization of specificmRNA populations. Endocrinology, 1981, 108: 353-356. Jacobs, J.,Simpson, E., Penschow, J. P., Hudson, P., Coghlan, J. and Niall, H.Characterization and location of calcitonin mRNA in rat thyroid.Endocrinology, 1983, 113: 1616-1622).

The basis of this technique is the incubation of aradioactively-labelled recombinant cDNA probe with a carefully preparedsection of tissue. After appropriate washing the tissue is dried andautoradiography is used to identify specific cell populations or tissueregions binding the probe. The principle is thus similar to the widelyused immunohistochemical procedures based upon binding of fluorescent,radioactive or peroxidase labelled antibodies.

The cDNA probe is obtained by standard cloning techniques to obtain adouble-stranded copy of the target mRNA. The double-stranded copy isdenatured to produce single-stranded cDNA from which labelled copy probeis made.

It was surprising that this approach has not, to our knowledge, beenpreviously established because recombinant cDNA probes have beenavailable for several years. There are a number of published studieswhich used partially purified rather than recombinant cDNA probes. Thisis an important distinction because recombinant probes with theirabsolute homogeneity guaranteed through the cloning procedure used toproduce them, provide a degree of specificity of labelling which cannotbe matched by any partially purified probe enriched for a particularmolecular species. More recently there have been other reports on theuse of cDNA probes either radioactively labelled or using fluorescent,enzymic or other labels of the hybridization sites.

Our previous work has shown clearly that it is possible where a DNAprobe is available to identify which tissues secrete a particularprotein. Biological applications of the techniques seem to be limitedonly by the specificity and type of probe which is available.

Until recently most of the work on hybridization histochemistry has beenconcerned with the use of probes of recombinant cDNA derived fromnatural mRNA or DNA. This has limited the application of the techniqueto cases where the natural RNA or DNA was available, e.g., had been orcould be cloned from a natural source. This has naturally limited thescope of the method, as in many potential areas of application, therequired RNA or DNA was not available and/or its structure was unknown.

The present invention is based on the substitution of syntheticoligonucleotide probes for cDNA obtained from or via natural sources. Wehave found that comparatively short probes, from about 10 to 100nucleotides, preferably about 20 to 40 nucleotides, are usually ofsufficiently unique structure to provide the necessary selectivity.

The synthesis of oligonucleotide sequences containing up to about 100nucleotides is now readily achieved using known equipment andtechniques.

Furthermore, in cases where the nucleotide sequence is not known butwhere information on the structure of a peptide or protein is available,it is now possible to predict with considerable certainty the DNA or RNAsequence which codes for that peptide or protein. Computer programs nowavailable enable the redundancies in the genetic code to be resolved bypredicting the most probable nucleotide sequence (for any given species)where any ambiguity exists.

Thus once the structure of a particular peptide or protein is known orcan be inferred with reasonable certainty, the corresponding mRNAstructure can be predicted, and a matching or complementaryoligonucleotide probe can then be constructed and used to search for thenatural mRNA population by the technique of hybridizationhistochemistry.

It is usually not necessary to know the complete amino acid sequence asuseful oligonucleotide probes may be constructed from partial sequencesof as few as 7 to 10 amino acids.

This approach can be used to confirm and extend studies indicating thatmany peptide or protein hormones are made in multiple sites (brain, gut,placenta). Biosynthesis can be distinguished from storage, and estimatesof mRNA turnover made. Moreover, within a heterogeneous individualtissue (whether normal or neoplastic) it is possible to identify whichcell types make a particular known product. With further increases inresolution, it should be possible to study the subcellular localizationof mRNA. Probes complementary to certain non-coding regions ofchromosomal DNA (e.g. to intervening sequences) might also enablestudies of the location of the initial mRNA transcript (pre mRNA) andthe fate of the excised segments. Specific cDNA probes can be used todetect either viral RNA/DNA or virus-specific mRNA in infected tissues.This technique could be particularly useful when a particular virus isdifficult to grow in culture. This new approach to hybridizationhistochemistry will also prove especially useful in clinical diagnosis.

The general approach described above can also provide a method fordetecting mRNA species or DNA in plant cells and tissues, in particularthe detection of the state of activity of specific plant genes and thedetection of plant pathogens such as, for example, plant viruses, fungiand viroids responsible for plant diseases of economic importance.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided amethod for determining the presence and location in animal or planttissue of a specific polynucleotide population which comprises:

(a) preparing a section of the tissue to be examined;

(b) contacting the tissue section under hybridization conditions with asynthetic, labelled oligonucleotide probe which is complementary to arepresentative portion of the target polynucleotide;

(c) removing unhybridized probe material from the tissue section; and

(d) detecting or identifying the locations in the tissue section wherelabelling by hybridization of the labelled probe has occurred.

Synthesis of oligonucleotide probes may be carried out by any of theknown procedures including solution, solid-phase, enzymic andcombinations thereof, and particularly methods involving DNApolymerase-mediated "repair synthesis" of synthetic oligonucleotidesubstrates having short Stretches of complementary sequence at their 3'termini. In the presence of DNA polymerase and the fourdeoxyribonucleotide triphosphates (which may be appropriately labelled)these primer-templates are converted to full-length double strandedDNA's from which the single stranded probe may be obtained. (See forexample, Rossi, J. J., Kierzek, R., Huang, T., Walker, P. A. andItakura, K., J. Biol. Chem. 257, 9226-9229, 1982.)

As indicated above, the usual method of probe labelling in the past hasbeen to use radioactive labelling, especially with ³² P, and to carryout step (d) by the normal procedures of autoradiography. While thistype of labelling can be used in the method of the present invention, itmay be complex and time consuming, as well as requiring access to, andfacilities for handling and disposal of the necessary radioisotopes.This may be disadvantageous in some circumstances, such as in routineclinical diagnostics.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention therefore, non-radioactivelabelling is employed, such as, for example, fluorescent or enzymiclabels, which are known per se in the immunohistochemical art, and tothus carry out step (d) by the appropriate standard procedures fordevelopment and/or identification of such labels.

In another embodiment, a non-radioactive label which may comprise orinclude a specific molecule or atom capable of detection by its spectralor other properties may be attached to the synthetic probe.

As already suggested, the method of the invention has particularapplication in the field of clinical diagnosis and for this purpose itis desirable to make the method available to technical staff who do nothave special expertise in the techniques of hybridizationhistochemistry.

Therefore according to a further aspect of the invention, there isprovided a diagnostic kit for use in performing the invention, whichcomprises a labelled synthetic oligonucleotide probe as specified above.

Because the method of the invention involves special preparation of thetissue samples, the diagnostic kit in its preferred form includes thereagents required for tissue section preparation, and, where necessary,reagents for the detection of the labelled sites after hybridization, aswell as instructions for carrying out the method.

The advantages which are achieved by using synthetic oligonucleotideprobes in hybridization histochemistry, in accordance with thisinvention, include the following:

Convenience--Synthetic oligonucleotide probes are readily acquiredwithout the need to isolate and clone natural polynucleotides.

Adaptability--Synthetic oligonucleotide probes can be precisely"tailored" to the appropriate length for any desired level ofhybridization specificity. Very long or very short probes may be toonon-specific. Variations in nucleotide sequences are readily obtained.Furthermore, specific synthetic probes may be "tailored" so as tocorrespond to regions of maximum difference between two or moresubstantially similar nucleotide sequences.

Availability--As well as allowing an infinite variety of probes to beproduced, the synthetic approach also allows larger amounts of theprobes to be produced than could be achieved reasonably by cloning.

Consistency and flexibility--Labelling is readily controlled duringsynthesis to provide any required extent and positioning, thus providinga greater degree of consistency and reliability.

Effectiveness--The close control of probe design which is possible canprovide better definition, i.e., clearer "pictures" than can be obtainedwith "natural" probes. For example, cloned cDNA probes are oftencontaminated by bacterial DNA which is difficult to remove. Furthermore,cDNA probes obtained from E. coli plasmids are not particularlyeffective for the localization of proteins in gastrointestinal orinfected tissue because of high background interference. Non-specificlabelling can also arise because of the presence of poly A tails incloned sequences which often can not be deleted because of the lack ofappropriate endonuclease cleavage sites.

The method of the invention is further illustrated by the followingdiscussion, which illustrates the basic techniques involved, andspecific examples of the method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1(A) is an X-ray film autoradiograph from a 40 μm section of awhole male Swiss mouse showing mRNA for kallikrein in kidney cortex andsalivary glands (Mag.×2).

FIG. 1(B) is a liquid emulsion autoradiograph of a 3 μm paraffin sectionfrom a freeze-dried male mouse submandibular gland showing mRNA forkallikrein in cells of the granular convoluted tubules (Mag.×400).

FIG. 1(C) is a liquid emulsion autoradiograph of 3 μm paraffin sectionfrom a freeze-dried mouse kidney. The cortical area shows mRNA forkallikrein in cells of the distal convoluted tubule (Mag.×800).

FIG. 2 is a liquid emulsion autoradiograph of a frozen section of a malemouse parotid gland after hybridization with a kallikrein probe preparedby the double strand approach described in Example 2. mRNA forkallikrein is located in the striated ducts of the parotid gland(Mag.×500).

FIG. 3 is a 3 μm paraffin section of a freeze-dried salivary gland froma male Swiss mouse. mRNA for EGF is located in cells of the granularconvoluted tubules of the submandibular gland (Mag.×400).

FIG. 4 is an autoradiograph of a 5 μm frozen section photographed bypolarized incident light showing silver grains white against a darkbackground. Labelled are erythropoietic cells within the liver of afetal sheep at 142 days of gestation, showing that mRNA for beta (adult)haemoglobin is present (Mag.×1000).

FIG. 5 is an autoradiograph photographed by polarized incident light. A5 μm frozen section of a human medullary thyroid carcinoma showscalcitonin mRNA in proliferating C-cells located between thyroidfollicles (Mag.×1000).

FIG. 6 is an autoradiograph of a 10 μm frozen section from sheephypothalamus. The probe hybridized with mRNA in neurons of theparaventricular nucleus (Mag.×40).

FIG. 7(A) is an autoradiograph of a 10 μm frozen section of hypothalamusfrom a lactating ewe. Separate 30-mer oligonucleotides corresponding toamino acids 125-134 of bovine oxytocin--neurophysin I were used asprobes (Mag.×300).

FIG. 7(B) is an autoradiograph of a 10 μm frozen section of hypothalamusfrom a lactating ewe. Separate 30-mer oligonucleotides corresponding toamino acids 125-134 of bovine oxytocin--AVP neurophysin II were used asprobes (Mag.×300).

PREPARATION OF OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES

The most efficient of the currently available methods for the synthesisof oligodeoxyribonucleotides is the solid-phase phosphoramidite method(Caruthers et al., Cold Spring Harbour Symp. Quant. Biol. 47, 411-418(1982), Adams et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 105, 661 (1983)). In thisprocedure, the solid phase is long alkyl chain controlled pore glass(Adams et al., supra) (CPG), a porous matrix with a pore size of 500 A,and particle size of 125-117 μm. This support has greater mechanicalstrength than silica and gives faster couplings and higher yields. Thefirst nucleoside is attached to the solid support through its hydroxylgroup by an ester linkage to a succinate spacer which is also attachedto the end of the long alkyl chain through an amide group. Loadings arein the vicinity of 30 μmole of nucleoside per gram of support. Thisfunctionalized material is commercially available.

Protected 3'-phosphoramidite deoxynucleosides are used to assemble theoligodeoxyribonucleotide. These are commercially available, but they canbe prepared in the laboratory (McBride, L. J., and Caruthers, M. H.,Tetrahedron Letters, 245 (1983), Dorper, T. and Winnacker, E. C.,Nucleic Acids Res. 11, 2575 (1983), Atkinson, T. and Smith, M., in"Oligonucleotide Synthesis: A Practical Approach" (M. J. Gait ed.),p.35-81, IRL Press, Oxford, 1984), although this requires considerablechemical expertise. We currently use an Applied Biosystems Inc. Model380A DNA Synthesizer for oligodeoxyribonucleotide synthesis. Thisinstrument is capable of synthesizing three differentoligodeoxyribonucleotides simultaneously. Syntheses are carried out onapproximately 30 mg of solid support, containing 1 μmole of protectednucleoside. The coupling step uses 10 μmole of the appropriatenucleoside phosphoramidite in dry acetonitrile and 50 μmole of tetrazolein the same solvent. This coupling step is very moisture sensitive, dueto the high reactivity of the protonated (by tetrazole) phosphoramidite,which will react very readily with water. Some of the large excess ofphosphoramidite reacts with residual water, in order for the couplingreaction to take place efficiently. Coupling yields, using controlledpore glass as the solid support and diisopropyl phosphoramidites, aretypically between 97% and 99%. Dry acetonitrile is conveniently preparedby drying HPLC grade material with activated 3 A molecular sieves(Burfield et.al., J. Appl. Chem. Biotechnol. 28, 23 (1978)). If this isto be used on the instrument, it must be filtered through a 0.45 μmTeflon cartridge filter with a syringe in order to remove any fineparticles present in the sieves.

Oligodeoxyribonucleotide chain assembly can also be carried outmanually. A very detailed protocol for this manual procedure has beenpublished recently (Atkinson and Smith, supra). A twelvefold excess ofphosphoramidite is sufficient to ensure maximum coupling efficiency if--

(i) the reaction cell used is a small glass column, 1 cm in diameter and3 cm long, fitted with a sintered glass disc of medium porosity (No. 3),a 3-way tap and a B14 quickfit top so that it can be stoppered andshaken,

(ii) the solid support is washed thoroughly (5 times) with dryacetonitrile prior to the coupling step, this being filtered by usingdry nitrogen pressure, drying the solid support thoroughly with drynitrogen and leaving under nitrogen and,

(iii) quickly adding the required amount of deoxynucleosidephosphoramidite in 0.4 ml of dry acetonitrile and the tetrazole solutionin 0.6 ml of dry acetonitrile (transferred by using dry glass syringes,kept in a dessicator in between couplings).

Following chain assembly and removal of the phosphate methyl protectinggroups with thiophenoxide ion, the oligodeoxyribonucleotide is cleavedfrom the solid support using concentrated ammonia solution. With theautomated instrument the oligodeoxynucleotide solution is filtered fromthe solid support and is delivered to the collection vial in ammoniasolution. Additional concentrated ammonia is then added (to 20 ml totalvolume in a 50 ml round-bottomed flask) to the crudeoligodeoxyribonucleotide solution, the flask is sealed tightly andtreated at 55° C. for 16 hours. After this reaction, the solution isevaporated to dryness and redissolved in 3 ml of sterile water.

The crude oligodeoxynucleotide can be purified by (i) reverse phaseHPLC, (ii) strong anion exchange HPLC or (iii) polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis. In the case of reverse phase HPLC, use is made of thelipophilic nature of the dimethoxytrityl group. If the last5'-dimethoxytrityl group is not removed, and the synthesis used anefficient capping reaction, then only the full length product shouldhave this lipophilic group attached to it. This causes the desiredproduct to be retarded on a reverse phase (μ-Bondapak C₁₈, 4.6 mm×25 cm)column, whereas the failure sequences elute with the void volume. In thecase of a 30 mer for example, a buffer gradient is run from 20% to 30%acetonitrile (11 ml/min, in 0.1M triethylammonium acetate, pH 7) over 20minutes, and the product elutes at approximately 20 minutes. If furtherpurification is desired, then the collected material is detritylated for20 minutes with 80% acetic acid and then rerun using the same buffersystem, with a gradient of 0 to 30% acetonitrile over 15 minutes. Inthis case, the desired oligodeoxyribonucleotide elutes at 15 minutes.The collected material is then extensively dialyzed against water inSpectrapor 6 tubing, molecular weight cut-off 2000. Purification of 300μl of a crude 30 mer in this manner usually gives approximately 1 to 2OD₂₆₀ units of pure oligodeoxyribonucleotide. With longer sequences, theconcentration of the organic phase is lowered in the initial run.

Purification by reverse phase HPLC is the method of choice for purifyingoligodeoxyribonucleotide sequences up to approximately forty nucleotidesin length. For longer sequences purification by polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis is preferred. In this procedure, 50 μl of the crudesample is mixed with 10 μl of formamide and loaded onto a 1.5 cm thick,20 cm long gel. The sample wells are 1.5 cm×1.5 cm. The gels are in 7Murea, 18% polyacrylamide being used for oligodeoxyribonucleotides up totwenty nucleotides long, 15% for twenty to thirty long and 10% forlonger oligonucleotides. These gels are pre-electrophoresed for at least1 hour prior to loading, and are run at 300 Volts. Dye tracks are runseparately. The gel is electrophoresed for the maximum possible time inorder to obtain the best resolution. Bromphenol blue generally runs atthe level of an 11 to 13 mer and xylene cyanol at the level of a 60 mer.After electrophoresis, the gel is placed on a sheet of tlc silica gel(Merck DC-Plastikfolien Kieselgel 60 F₂₅₄, No. 5735) and irradiated withultraviolet light (254 nm) whereupon the oligodeoxyribonucleotidesappear as dark bands. The product band is usually the last major highmolecular weight band. The appropriate gel slice is cut out, the productelectroeluted, and then dialyzed as previously. Purification of 300 μlof a crude 30 mer by this procedure usually yields approximately 0.5 to1.0 OD₂₆₀ units of pure oligodeoxyribonucleotide.

Strong anion exchange HPLC on Whatman Partisil 10SAX columns can also beused to purify synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides. In this case,separation is on the basis of charge and thus the product compound isusually the last peak to elute. Elution (for a 30 mer) is with aphosphate gradient (1 mM to 0.3 M) over 60 minutes in buffers containing60% formamide. The method works well with oligodeoxyribonucleotides upto 30 to 40 mucleotides long (Scanlon et.al., J. Chromatography, 336,189 (1984)). However, it is more time consuming than the reverse phasemethod and the ion exchange columns have a shorter life time.Nevertheless, it is the best method of assessing the degree ofheterogeneity in the crude product mixture.

The sequence of the oligodeoxyribonucleotide can be confirmed, after5'-end labelling with [γ-³² P] ATP, by a modified Maxam and Gilbertprocedure (Maxam, A. M. and Gilbert, W., "Methods in Enzymology", 65,499 (1980)). In this method, 60 μg of tRNA are used to precipitate 100ng of labelled oligonucleotide, and the base specific reactions arecarried out for 1 hour at 20° C.

End-Labelling of Oligodeoxyribonucleotides

We have observed that the use of a high pH, glycerol containing buffersystem (Procedure 5A in Maxam and Gilbert Ref., supra) givesconsistently high 5'-end labelling with T₄ polynucleotide kinase and[γ-³² P] ATP. The levels of labelling achieved using this procedure aremuch higher, usually by as much as ten times, than the levels achievedusing the procedure normally recommended for the end labelling ofoligodeoxyribonucleotides (Procedure 5B in Maxam and Gilbert Ref.). Thelabelling is normally carried out on 100 ng of oligodeoxyribonucleotide(corresponding to 10 pmole of a 30 mer), using 20 pmole of [γ-³² P] ATPand 20 units of T₄ polynucleotide kinase, for 1 hour. The labelled probeis then purified on a Sephadex G25 column (5×0.5 cm) precipitated inethanol using 50 μg of tRNA to each fraction (8 drops each) containingthe labelled product, dried under vacuum and diluted to 400 ng/ml inhybridization buffer with 40% (up to 42 mer) or 50% formamide.Hybridization buffer consists of 600 mM sodium chloride, 50 mM sodiumphosphate pH 7.0, 5.0 mM EDTA, 0.02% ficoll, 0.02% bovine serum albumin,0.02% polyvinyl pyrrolidone, 0.01% herring sperm DNA. The specificactivity is approximately 9.0×10⁸ cpm/μg. A small amount of the sampleis checked for homogeneity by electrophoresis on a 10% polyacrylamide,7M urea gel.

Procedure for Hydridization Histochemistry (a) Preparation of frozensections from excised tissues

Freezing Tissue: Moulds of heavy duty aluminium foil are prepared largeenough to contain the tissue to be frozen, with at least 2 mm clearance.O.C.T. compound is added at 4° C. to just cover the base. A sample offresh tissue up to 20 mm³ is positioned in the mould preferably withinminutes of excision, orientation noted, and covered with O.C.T. Usingforceps, the mould is lowered into a precooled bath of hexane containingdry ice. To prevent cracking of the tissue during freezing the surfaceof the O.C.T. is kept clear of the hexane to allow for expansion. Forspecimens larger than 20 mm³, it is preferable to first freeze thetissue on a copper plate lowered into the coolant on a metal gauzecarrier with the surface to be sectioned upwards, then to invert thefrozen specimen quickly into the mould, cover with a minimum of O.C.T.at 4° C. and re-freeze. Other liquid coolants may provide slightlysuperior morphology in 5-10 μm frozen sections, but generally morecomplex apparatus is required. Tissue prepared as described and sealedin plastic can be stored at -20° C. for up to 6 months with little lossof sectioning quality or of detectable mRNA. Inadequately sealed samplesdesiccate, especially at low temperatures, destroying morphology.

Sectioning: Sections of 3-10 microns are cut in a cryostat at -10° to-20° C. and thawed on to dry glass slides, precoated with 1% gelatinehardened with 0.25% formaldehyde and kept at room temperature. Thesection on the slide is immediately frozen by placing on a dry iceblock, and left for at least 5 minutes. This reduces ribonucleaseactivity and helps in adherence of the sections. Alternate sectionsretained for routine morphology and evaluation of X-ray filmautoradiographs are left at room temperature until dry.

Fixation: The slides are transferred from dry ice to freshly preparedglutaraldehyde fixative (4% glutaraldehyde, electron microscope grade,in 0.1M phosphate buffer pH 7.3 with 20% ethylene glycol) at 4° C.,agitated and left for 5 minutes. Sections retained for routinemorphology are fixed for 10 seconds in 10% formaldehyde in 75% ethanol,rinsed in water and stained or allowed to dry.

Pre-Hybridization: Glutaraldehyde-fixed sections are rinsed at roomtemperature then at 40° C. in hybridization buffer, and left for 1 to 4hours in fresh buffer to "pre-hybridize". To avoid the risk of rustcontamination, glass or plastic slide racks and containers arerecommended for this, and subsequent steps employing high saltsolutions. Slides are rinsed in 2 changes of absolute ethanol at roomtemperature and left until dry. They can be stored over ethanol vapour,if necessary, for up to 1 week at 4° C. or 1 month at -20° C. with somerisk of morphological deterioration at the lower temperature.

(b) Preparation of Sections from Freeze-dried Embedded Tissues

This procedure provides superior morphology in small tissue samples,especially of granule containing cells, due to retention ofintracellular granules.

Freeze-drying Tissue:

Samples of fresh tissue not larger than 5 mm³ are frozen in liquidpropane cooled by liquid nitrogen. Frozen samples are freeze-dried for72 hours at -45° C. and 10⁻³ Torr with phosphorus pentoxide asdesiccant. Whilst still under vacuum the temperature is raised at 3° C.per hour to 0° C., air is admitted and samples are removed to a vacuumdesiccator containing dry silica gel and paraformaldehyde. Samples arethen evacuated and left at 37° C. for 5 hours.

Embedding:

Tissue samples are removed directly to embedding moulds containingparaplast at 56° C. in a heated vacuum embedding chamber and evacuatedfor approximately half an hour or until bubbles no longer appear,indicating complete infiltration. Moulds containing tissues are removedto trays of ice and left until cooled, then stored at -20° C. for alimited period (not exceeding 2 months).

Sectioning:

Paraffin sections are cut at 2 to 10 μm on a conventional rotarymicrotome, transferred to distilled water at room temperature then ontoslides pre-coated with 1% gelatine subsequently hardened with 0.25%formaldehyde. Each slide is warmed briefly if necessary to flatten anddry the section. The dry sections are then stored at -20° C. until readyto hybridize.

Pre-hybridization:

Sections are equilibrated to room temperature and soaked in xylene (2changes of 3 minutes each) to remove paraffin, rinsed in absoluteethanol and allowed to dry. Immersion in hybridization buffer at 40° C.,and subsequent procedures are as for frozen sections (see above).

Hybridization:

Before application of the probe stored sections are dried under vacuumat room temperature. The probe is boiled for 1 minute to separatestrands, mixed and centrifuged. A volume of probe appropriate for thesize of sections is applied to a coverslip (e.g. 20 μl for a 22×22 mmcoverslip) and sections touched lightly on the drop until it spreads andthe coverslip adheres by capillary action. Slides are laid on a raisedplastic grill in a sealable chamber humidified by hybridization buffer.Rows of slides are covered with strips of thin plastic film, the chambersealed and incubated for 1 to 3 days at a temperature determined by theprobe length (see Table). 24 hours incubation is generally adequate, butas the hybridization signal does increase with time, and week-ends mayintervene, three days is a good standard.

Post-Hybridization Washing:

Slides are rinsed individually at room temperature in 4×SSC (standardsaline-citrate solution, stock solution X20 is 3M sodium chloride, 0.3Msodium citrate in distilled water) until the coverslip falls off, thenleft immersed in 2×SSC until a batch is completed. 1×SSC is pre-warmedto a temperature determined by the probe length (see Table) and slidessoaked for 30 minutes with frequent agitation. Approximately 200 ml ofeach solution for each 10 slides is recommended. Batches of slides arerinsed briefly in 2 changes of absolute ethanol with constant agitationand allowed to dry at room temperature.

                  TABLE    ______________________________________    Hybridization and Washing Temperatures for Short Probes            15   18      21     24   27    30   >42            mer  mer     mer    mer  mer   mer  mer    ______________________________________    Hybridization              R.T.   30°                             30°                                  30°                                       40°                                             40°                                                  40°    Temperature      C.      C.   C.   C.    C.   C.    Washing.sup.(a)              30°                     30°                             40°                                  40°                                       40°                                             40°                                                  50°    Temperature              C.     C.      C.   C.   C.    C.   C.    Probes 40 mer and less are in 40% formamide buffer, above    40 mer in 50% formamide buffer. This data was prepared using    .sup.32 P labelled oligodeoxyribonucleotides corresponding to amino    acids 111 to 115 and up to 124 of mouse glandular kallikrein.sup.(b)    with 5 μm sections of mouse kidney and salivary glands as target    tissues.    ______________________________________     .sup.(a) The washing solution is 1XSSC.     .sup.(b) Richards et.al., J. Biol. Chem. 257, 2758 (1982).

Whole Animal Specimens

Whole small animal specimens are first frozen in hexane/dry ice oralternative solutions, then embedded in a mould of 2%carboxymethylcellulose gel, finely minced meat or other freeze-embeddingcompounds and re-immersed in hexane/dry ice until frozen.

Sections are cut at 20 to 60μ on an appropriate sledge cryomicrotome,e.g., P.M.V. at -20° C. The sections are collected by applying to thefrozen tissue block a piece of adhesive tape which has been spread witha silicone adhesive, e.g., neutral cure silicone roof and gutter sealant(Dow Corning, Australia). After the section is cut it remains attachedto the adhesive tape and is immediately fixed in 4% glutaraldehyde in0.1M phosphate buffer pH 7.2 at room temperature, rinsed andpre-hybridized floating in dishes of hybridization buffer at 42° C.according to the protocol described above for tissue sections. Afterrinsing in ethanol, the tape is attached to a flat support, e.g., glassand subsequent hybridization and washing procedures are as for tissuesections. Alternatively, the section on tape can be hybridized andwashed floating or immersed in the probe and washing solutions.

Tapes carrying sections are attached to a backing sheet in a light-proofcassette, covered with thin plastic film (e.g., "Gladwrap") andautoradiographed as described for tissue sections.

Autoradiography with ³² P: (Detection of Hybridization Sites

Slides are taped to a backing sheet (blotting paper) in a film cassetteleaving 1 to 2 mm gaps between and blank slides are laid at the edgesof-the group to ensure the film lies flat. Slides of differentthicknesses should be in separate groups. As intensifying screens reduceresolution they are used only if very short exposures are necessary oron a second exposure of "negative" tissues. A sheet of the fastestavailable X-ray film (we use Kodak XAR5) is placed over the slides, aweight on the cassette and exposed for 12 to 24 hours at roomtemperature or -80° C. if intensifying screens are used. The film isdeveloped and fixed in Kodak liquid X-ray developer Type 2 and fixer. Inevaluating the result comparison of the film with stained sectionspreviously prepared, viewed on a transmitted light steromicroscope, maybe helpful. A dark grey image after 24 hours exposure to XAR5 requiresabout 10 days exposure for G5 or 14 days for K5 liquid emulsion. Thereis little or no increase in numbers of developed silver grains beyond 21days. A very light image on XAR5 is probably too weak a signal to expectadequate labelling in liquid emulsion autoradiographs but increasedresolution can be obtained by the application of fine grain singleemulsion coat X-ray film (Dupont--MRF 32) and a 1-4 week exposure."Hotter" tissues can be treated similarly with a short exposure (1-2days) prior to autoradiography with liquid emulsion. These images areuseful for pinpointing labelled regions discernible only at highmagnifications. Liquid emulsion autoradiography is then performed byessentially conventional techniques. Briefly, slides are dipped at 40°C. in G5 or K5 emulsion diluted 1:2 with distilled water, exposed atroom temperature over silica gel, developed for 2 minutes in Kodak D19,rinsed in distilled water and fixed in Ilford Hypam diluted 1:4, all at15° C. After a thorough rinse in distilled water tissues are stained byconventional procedures and mounted in D.P.X. (15% dibutyl phthalate and10% Lustrex Pix 5 in xylene)

General Techniques

Tissue Preservation

Tissues may be frozen in a variety of ways including propane oriso-pentane cooled by liquid nitrogen, freon, liquid nitrogen slush orany means by which the tissue structure is not destroyed by icecrystals.

Alternatives to the use of fresh frozen tissues are tissues which havebeen chemically fixed using one or several of a number of agentscommonly employed such as formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, ethanol, aceticacid, picric acid, acrolein or the like which are introduced byperfusion or vapour or in which the tissue is immersed. The term"chemical fixation" here refers to any process which cross-linksproteins, inactivates enzymes and/or precipitates nucleic acids.

Depending on the chemical agents employed it may be necessary to treatspecimens with proteinases, e.g. proteinase K, prior to hybridization inorder to render the tissue m-RNA or DNA accessible to the probe. Analterative to dissected or biopsy tissue specimens is the use of tissue,cell or organ cultures which are treated similarly to fresh tissue inthat they are frozen and/or chemically fixed before hybridization.Further procedures do not necessarily include sectioning as this type ofpreparation is usually adhering to a solid or biological supportingmaterial such as glass or agar or is in the form of a suspension. Cellsuspensions can be first attached to glass or plastic or be takenthrough hybridization and washing procedures and attached to glass orplastic prior to autoradiography or viewing.

Sectioning of fixed or unfixed tissue above -10° C. is an alternative tofrozen sectioning. Tissue may be embedded in a supporting medium such asgelatine, paraffin or plastic or the like and be cut on a rotary, sledgeor ultramicrotome or may be cut on a vibratome or similar instrumentwithout embedding or with minimal support (e.g., agar).

The hybridization temperature and formamide concentration of thehybridization buffer is varied according to the length of probe used,and the homology with tissue m-RNA sequences. The formamideconcentration is varied in the range 0 to 60% and the temperature forhybridization can range from 20° C. to 70° C. The duration can beshortened to hours if the tissue m-RNA level, specific activity of probeand hybridization temperature are high enough.

The post-hybridization washing conditions are also varied according toprobe length and homology with tissue mRNA. This step is essentially toremove excess probe and non-specific interactions. A balance of saltconcentration, temperature and duration of wash is required where thehomology of probe and tissue m-RNA sequences are uncertain. Thehybridization and washing conditions for synthetic probes of varyinglengths are described in the Table.

The following Examples illustrate the application of the techniquesdescribed in detail above to the determination of the presence andlocation of specific polynucleotide populations in various animaltissues in accordance with the present-invention.

In Example 1 and Examples 3 to 7, oligonucleotides were synthesizedcomplementary to mRNA sequences of regions cited and were end-labelledwith ³² PγdATP. The relevant method of tissue and section preparation iscited with each example. The hybridization of probe and section andsubsequent procedures were performed according to the methods previouslydescribed.

EXAMPLE 1

A single-stranded kallikrein probe was prepared comprising a syntheticoligodeoxyribonucleotide 30 mer corresponding to amino acids 111-120 ofmouse glandular kallikrein (Richards et al. J. Biol. Chem. 257(6),2758-2761, 1982). ##STR1##

This probe was then labelled and used to detect the location of mRNA forkallikrein in various tissues by the methods described above. FIG. 1(a)is an X-ray film autoradiograph from 40 μm section of whole male Swissmouse showing mRNA for kallikrein to be present in kidney cortex andsalivary glands (Mag.×2). FIG. 1(b) is a liquid emulsion autoradiographof 3 μm paraffin section from a freeze-dried male mouse sub-mandibulargland showing mRNA for kallikrein to be located on cells of the granularconvoluted tubules (Mag.×400). FIG. 1(c) is a liquid emulsionautoradiograph of 3 μm paraffin section from freeze-dried mouse kidney.This area of cortex shows mRNA for kallikrein to be present in cells ofthe distal convoluted tubule (Mag.×800).

EXAMPLE 2

The following example illustrates the synthesis of oligonucleotideprobes involving DNA polymerase mediated "repair-synthesis" of syntheticsubstrates having a short section of complementary sequence at the 3'termini. Two oligodeoxynucleotide 30 mers were synthesized correspondingto the amino acid sequence region 104 to 113 and 111 to 120 as describedby Richards et al, J. Biol. Chem., 257, 2758-2761, 1982. Theseoligonucleotides have a complementary sequence of 9 nucleotides at the3' termini as shown. ##STR2##

The synthetic 30 mer (100 ng) were dissolved in 10 μl of 10 mM Trisbuffer pH 7.5 with 1 mM EDTA, boiled for 5 minutes and cooled on ice for1 minute. This solution was then added to the following mixture andreacted at 37° C.: ³² Pα-dATP, 5 μl (50 μCi); 10 mM dGTP, dCTP, dTTP, 1μl each; 10×medium buffer (500 mM sodium chloride; 10 mM Tris-HCl pH7.5; 100 mM magnesium chloride; 10 mM dithiothreitol) 2.5 μl; E. coliDNA polymerase I (Klenow), 1 μl; distilled water, 3 μl. After 30 minutesthe reaction was terminated by the addition of EDTA to give a finalconcentration of 12.5 mM and extracted with phenol-chloroform (1:1). Theaqueous phase was passed through a 10×60 mm column of Sephadex G.25(medium grade) equilibrated with 0.1M sodium chloride in 10 mM Tris pH7.5, 1 mM EDTA buffer. The labelled probe which elutes at the voidvolume was precipitated with ethanol and redissolved in hydridizationbuffer and boiled prior to use.

FIG. 2(a) is a liquid emulsion autoradiograph of a frozen sectionshowing male mouse parotid gland after hybridization with a kallikreinprobe prepared by the double strand approach described above. mRNA forkallikrein is shown to be located in the striated ducts of the parotidgland (Mag.×500).

EXAMPLE 3

The following 30 mer oligonucleotide was synthesized to a regioncorresponding to amino acids 16 to 25 of mouse pre-pro epidermal growthfactor (EGF) according to the sequence described by Scott et al, Science221, 236-240, 1983. ##STR3##

This probe was then labelled and used to detect the location of mRNA forEGF as previously described. FIG. 3(a) is a 3 μm paraffin section of afreeze-dried salivary gland from a male Swiss mouse. mRNA for EGF isshown to be located in cells of the granular convoluted tubules of thesub-mandibular gland (Mag.×400).

EXAMPLE 4

The following 24 mer oligonucleotide was synthesized corresponding toamino acids 9 to 16 of beta haemoglobin (adult), according to thesequence described by Kretschmer et al., J. Bio. Chem. 256, 1975-1982,1981. This sequence region was chosen to have maximum sequencedifference to gamma haemoglobin (fetal). ##STR4##

After labelling, this probe was used to detect the location of mRNA forbeta (adult) haemoglobin. FIG. 4(a) is an autoradiograph of 5 μm frozensection photographed by polarized incident light showing silver graphswhite against a dark background. Labelled are erythropoietic cellswithin the liver of a fetal sheep at 142 days of gestation, showing thatmRNA for beta (adult) haemoglobin is present. (Mag.×1000).

EXAMPLE 5

The following 40 mer oligonucleotide was synthesized corresponding toamino acids 19 to 32 of human calcitonin according to the sequencedescribed by Craig et al. Nature 295, 345-347, 1982. ##STR5##

After labelling, this synthetic probe was used to detect the location ofcalcitonin mRNA by the methods previously described. FIG. 5(a) is anautoradiograph photographed by polarized incident light. A 5 μm frozensection of human medullary thyroid carcinoma showing calcitonin mRNA tobe present in proliferating C-cells located between thyroid follicles.(Mag.×1000).

EXAMPLE 6

The following 39 mer oligonucleotide was synthesized corresponding toamino acids -1 to +12 of bovine prepro-AVP-neurophysin according to thesequence described by Land et al. Nature 302, 342-344, 1983. ##STR6##

This probe was labelled and used to locate mRNA by the methodspreviously described. FIG. 6(a) is an autoradiograph of 10 μm frozensection from sheep hypothalamus. The probe has hybridized with mRNA inneurones of the paraventricular nucleus. (Mag.×40).

EXAMPLE 7

Separate 30 mer oligonucleotides were synthesized corresponding to aminoacids 125 to 134 of bovine oxytocin-neurophysin I [Probe A--example7(a)] and AVP-neurophysin II [Probe B--example 7(b)] according tosequences described by Land-et al. Nature 302, 342-344, 1983. ##STR7##

This is a region of maximum difference in nucleotide sequence for thesetwo hormones and in this example each probe was labelled and applied toan adjacent 10 μm frozen section of hypothalamus from a lactating ewe.Blood vessels and neurones common to both sections are evident in FIGS.7(a) and 7(b). Using blood vessels B and B1 as landmarks it is evidentthat mRNA's for the hormones oxytocin (a) and AVP (b) are present indifferent neurones. (Mag.×300).

EXAMPLE 8

This example illustrates the standard components of a diagnostic kit forhybridization histochemistry in accordance with the present invention.

A. Reagents included in kit:

Salts for hybridization buffer to be reconstituted in 150 ml distilledwater.

Deionized formamide--100 ml

200 ng labelled synthetic oligonucleotide probe as dry pellet containing200 μg t-RNA--to be reconstituted in 400 μl hybridization buffer.

200 ng labelled synthetic oligonucleotide probe as above but of thecomplementary DNA sequence to the probe of interest to act as a negativecontrol.

Salts for 4×SSC--to be reconstituted in 250 ml distilled water.

Salts for 2×SSC--to be reconstituted in 250 ml distilled water.

Salts for 1×SSC--to be reconstituted in 250 ml distilled water.

Instruction sheet including method for tissue preparation, sectioning,fixation, pre-hybridization, hybridization, post-hybridization washing,X-ray film and liquid emulsion autoradiography.

B. Formulae:

(i) Hybridization Buffer

600 mM sodium chloride; 50 mm sodium phosphate pH 7.0; 5.0 mM E.D.T.A.;0.02% (w/v) ficoll; 0.02% (w/v) bovine serum albumin; 0.02% (w/v)polyvinyl pyrrolidone; 0.1% (w/v) leming sperm DNA; 40% (w/v) formamide(deionized).

(ii) Standard Saline-Citrate (SSC)

1×SSC is 0.15 M NaCl; 0.015M sodium citrate.

We claim:
 1. A hybridization histochemistry method for determining thepresence and location in animal or plant tissue of a specific targetmRNA population which comprises:(a) preparing a section of the tissue tobe examined; (b) hybridizing the tissue section with a substantiallypure chemically synthesized labelled single-stranded oligonucleotideprobe wherein said probe is complementary to a portion of the codingregion of the target mRNA, wherein the probe is from 10 to 100nucleotides, (c) removing unhybridized probe from the tissue section;and (d) detecting or identifying the locations in the tissue sectionwhere labelling by hybridization of the labelled probe has occurred. 2.A method according to claim 1, wherein the synthetic, oligonucleotideprobe is from 20 to 40 nucleotides.
 3. A method according to claim 1,wherein the oligonucleotide probe is labelled with a radioactive label.4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the oligonucleotide probe islabelled with a fluorescent or enzymatic label.
 5. A method according toclaim 1, wherein steps (b) and (c) are each carried out at a temperaturein the range of 20° C. to 70° C.
 6. A method according to claim 1,wherein said tissue section is a thin section obtained from a biopsy ororgan culture.